Today is November 22, 2016. As of today I have lived 27,761 days - I still weigh 165 pounds - I can still wear a 32 inch belt - I'm still doing yoga, lifting weights and waking 2 miles a day. Life is good.
On this the day JFK was shot in Dallas in 1963 - it is also only 59 days until Donald Trump takes the oath of office as President of the United States of America. So it is a good day to start my BLOG again because I have some things I want and need to say. In other words I need to vent a little.
First, I don't want us Democrats to lower ourselves to the scumbag level the GOP did in 2009. When Barack Obama took office on January 20, 2009, Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader in the Senate, announced that the Republicans in Congress were going to see to it that Obama was a one term president and they would obstruct every thing he tried to do. They did succeed on one of them - and that was to obstruct everything he tried to do. But they failed in making him a one term president even though the conservative Supreme Court tried to make it possible when they gutted the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965. Many of the GOP governed states then passed voter suppression laws but thanks to lower courts ruling them unconstitutional Obama was re-elected by 4-5 million votes.
So my FIRST PREDICTION is that we Democrats will not lower ourselves to their level. Thanks to President Obama and Vice-president Biden leading the way the Democrats will be taking the high road and will work with and not obstruct everything Trump and the Republican Congress wants to do. In other words we will be willing to compromise in order to get something done for the "common good." Something OBAMA was never got to enjoy.
Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Liberal Supreme Court - we need one.
Today is Thursday, March 31, 2016. I've walked 44 miles in March and weighed 165 pounds.
My quote today is from Tyler Burdick of NYC: "A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected."
My topic today is the Supreme Court vacancy: I get a kick out of the TV announcement supporting Senator Grassley on why he should continue to block the Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. What makes me shake my head is they say they do not want a "liberal" on the Court.
Well, I tell you what! If we had had a liberal majority on the Supreme Court we wouldn't be suffering through the Citizens United decision which is a disaster for our democracy. That decision has opened the floodgates to the unlimited number of dollars corporations (the ONE %ers) can now pour into our elections. They are corrupting our whole system of electing government leaders.
The other decision the conservative Supreme Court made was to gut the VOTING RIGHTS ACT of 1965. As soon as the conservative Court made that decision the GOP controlled state governments starting passing voter suppression laws. In particular making it more difficult for African-Americans, Latinos and college students to vote - all of which tend to vote for Democrats.
Aren't "conservatives" the most wonderful Americans? They really care about fairness and justice and democracy in America!!!!! They make me sick!!!!
My quote today is from Tyler Burdick of NYC: "A person who feels appreciated will always do more than what is expected."
My topic today is the Supreme Court vacancy: I get a kick out of the TV announcement supporting Senator Grassley on why he should continue to block the Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court. What makes me shake my head is they say they do not want a "liberal" on the Court.
Well, I tell you what! If we had had a liberal majority on the Supreme Court we wouldn't be suffering through the Citizens United decision which is a disaster for our democracy. That decision has opened the floodgates to the unlimited number of dollars corporations (the ONE %ers) can now pour into our elections. They are corrupting our whole system of electing government leaders.
The other decision the conservative Supreme Court made was to gut the VOTING RIGHTS ACT of 1965. As soon as the conservative Court made that decision the GOP controlled state governments starting passing voter suppression laws. In particular making it more difficult for African-Americans, Latinos and college students to vote - all of which tend to vote for Democrats.
Aren't "conservatives" the most wonderful Americans? They really care about fairness and justice and democracy in America!!!!! They make me sick!!!!
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Jones County Iowa GOP voters have onle one candidate to vote for
Today is Wednesday, 2016. I've walked 42.5 miles in March and weigh 165.2 pounds.
My QUOTE for today is from actress. Viola Davis: "I've never determined my value based on my looks or anything physical. I've been through a lot in life, and what has gotten me through is strength of character and faith."
My topic today is the Jones County GOP party platform. On March 12, 2016, the Jones County Republicans and Democrats had their county conventions. On March 24 their platforms were published in the Anamosa Journal-Eureka. The GOP platform caught my attention and that is what I'm writing commenting about today.
The first entry in the GOP platform was entitled STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES. Here is what it said: A half-truth is a whole lie. We must expect honorable behavior from leaders. We need a system to remove from leadership those who are untrustworthy. I agree with the statement but who are the GOP voters going to vote for?
I don't think they can vote for either Trump or Cruz. Trump calls Cruz "Lying Ted." And one political analyst said Trump tells one lie every five minutes. If either one is elected they would have to be removed because they accuse each other of being untrustworthy. That definitely is not "honorable behavior."
Another Republican named Georg W. Bush lied the U.S. into invading Iraq in 2002-2003. He lied when he said Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear material from Niger. He lied again when he said Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. He lied again when he famously said "Mission Accomplished."
The result of this unnecessary, ill-advised and idiotic war are as follows:
1. 4486 dead American soldiers;
2. estimates of the Iraq War dollar costs are - around $2 trillion plus $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans we'll be paying for many decades - so it could grow to $6 trillion over the next four decades.
My QUOTE for today is from actress. Viola Davis: "I've never determined my value based on my looks or anything physical. I've been through a lot in life, and what has gotten me through is strength of character and faith."
My topic today is the Jones County GOP party platform. On March 12, 2016, the Jones County Republicans and Democrats had their county conventions. On March 24 their platforms were published in the Anamosa Journal-Eureka. The GOP platform caught my attention and that is what I'm writing commenting about today.
The first entry in the GOP platform was entitled STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES. Here is what it said: A half-truth is a whole lie. We must expect honorable behavior from leaders. We need a system to remove from leadership those who are untrustworthy. I agree with the statement but who are the GOP voters going to vote for?
I don't think they can vote for either Trump or Cruz. Trump calls Cruz "Lying Ted." And one political analyst said Trump tells one lie every five minutes. If either one is elected they would have to be removed because they accuse each other of being untrustworthy. That definitely is not "honorable behavior."
Another Republican named Georg W. Bush lied the U.S. into invading Iraq in 2002-2003. He lied when he said Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear material from Niger. He lied again when he said Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. He lied again when he famously said "Mission Accomplished."
The result of this unnecessary, ill-advised and idiotic war are as follows:
1. 4486 dead American soldiers;
2. estimates of the Iraq War dollar costs are - around $2 trillion plus $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans we'll be paying for many decades - so it could grow to $6 trillion over the next four decades.
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Trump and Tariffs
Pete's BLOG: Today is Tuesday, March 29, 2016. I've walked 40,5 miles and weigh 165.8 pounds.
QUOTE from James Barber: "Age is inevitable but growing old is optional."
My topic today is about DONALD TRUMP and his intention to raise tariffs.
While watching the GOP Comedy Shows (aka debates) my mind keeps coming up with questions. Most all the GOP candidates make me scratch my head but Donald Trump makes me scratch the most. He needs to read some history books so he doesn't repeat the same mistakes the GOP made many years ago. What I'm talking about is his idea of imposing a 45% tariff on goods coming from China and other trading partners. Here is what happened when we tried something similar from 1929 to 1934.
On June 30, 1930, President Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Act. It had been debated for all of 1929 and passed the Congress when the GOP majority voted overwhelmingly in favor of it. Smoot was a GOP Senator from Utah and Hawley was GOP representative from Oregon. What the new law did was impose high tariffs (aka taxes) on thousands of goods imported into the U.S. - it's goal was to protect American jobs and American farmers from foreign competition. It is the same thing that Donnie is proposing today.
I guess Smoot and Hawley were not smart enough to figure out that if we imposed higher tariffs on their goods they would retaliate and do the same to us. That is exactly what happened. Trading partners like Canada, Britain, France, Germany and many others increased their tariffs on American goods. The result was that from 1929 to 1934 U.S. IMPORTS DECREASED 66%, while U.S. EXPORTS DECREASED by 61% in the same time period - costing us billions of dollars and made unemployment rise to 25%. The worldwide "tariff war" decreased world trade by some 66% from 1929 to 1934.
So Donnie, I would suggest you do some studying about raising tariffs. The results were disastrous in the 1930s. And Donnie there are going to be a lot of people pissed- off at you if they have to pay 45% more for the many goods Walmart imports from China and other Asian countries.
In fairness to President Hoover he was against the Smoot-Hawley bill - he favored higher tariffs on agricultural goods but not on industrial goods. - but the bill had both. Hoover actually called it "vicious, extortionate and obnoxious." Over 1,000 economists asked Hoover to veto it. Henry Ford called the bill "an economic stupidity" and begged Hoover to veto it. The CEO of J.P. Morgan called it "asinine." But Hoover yielded to pressure from the Republicans in Congress and from business leaders and signed the bill on June 30, 1930. When he signed he had already received "protest notes" from 23 of our trading partners and all 23 threatened to raise their tariffs if he signed it - and they did. I think the results would be the same this time - so Donnie, you better give it some serious thought.
The Smoot-Hawley law was not the only cause of the Great Depression. But most economists agree that it was counterproductive and contributed to the depth and length of the Depression. And most they agree it was responsible for cutting our imports and exports by more than half.
QUOTE from James Barber: "Age is inevitable but growing old is optional."
My topic today is about DONALD TRUMP and his intention to raise tariffs.
While watching the GOP Comedy Shows (aka debates) my mind keeps coming up with questions. Most all the GOP candidates make me scratch my head but Donald Trump makes me scratch the most. He needs to read some history books so he doesn't repeat the same mistakes the GOP made many years ago. What I'm talking about is his idea of imposing a 45% tariff on goods coming from China and other trading partners. Here is what happened when we tried something similar from 1929 to 1934.
On June 30, 1930, President Hoover signed into law the Smoot-Hawley Act. It had been debated for all of 1929 and passed the Congress when the GOP majority voted overwhelmingly in favor of it. Smoot was a GOP Senator from Utah and Hawley was GOP representative from Oregon. What the new law did was impose high tariffs (aka taxes) on thousands of goods imported into the U.S. - it's goal was to protect American jobs and American farmers from foreign competition. It is the same thing that Donnie is proposing today.
I guess Smoot and Hawley were not smart enough to figure out that if we imposed higher tariffs on their goods they would retaliate and do the same to us. That is exactly what happened. Trading partners like Canada, Britain, France, Germany and many others increased their tariffs on American goods. The result was that from 1929 to 1934 U.S. IMPORTS DECREASED 66%, while U.S. EXPORTS DECREASED by 61% in the same time period - costing us billions of dollars and made unemployment rise to 25%. The worldwide "tariff war" decreased world trade by some 66% from 1929 to 1934.
So Donnie, I would suggest you do some studying about raising tariffs. The results were disastrous in the 1930s. And Donnie there are going to be a lot of people pissed- off at you if they have to pay 45% more for the many goods Walmart imports from China and other Asian countries.
In fairness to President Hoover he was against the Smoot-Hawley bill - he favored higher tariffs on agricultural goods but not on industrial goods. - but the bill had both. Hoover actually called it "vicious, extortionate and obnoxious." Over 1,000 economists asked Hoover to veto it. Henry Ford called the bill "an economic stupidity" and begged Hoover to veto it. The CEO of J.P. Morgan called it "asinine." But Hoover yielded to pressure from the Republicans in Congress and from business leaders and signed the bill on June 30, 1930. When he signed he had already received "protest notes" from 23 of our trading partners and all 23 threatened to raise their tariffs if he signed it - and they did. I think the results would be the same this time - so Donnie, you better give it some serious thought.
The Smoot-Hawley law was not the only cause of the Great Depression. But most economists agree that it was counterproductive and contributed to the depth and length of the Depression. And most they agree it was responsible for cutting our imports and exports by more than half.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Pete BLOGDay 26,899. What happened to Pete's BLOG?
What happened to my BLOG is this:
One of my New Year's resolution was to rewrite the Gratitude Journal I wrote in 2009.
So I'm going to spend my time retyping and in the process I will be tweaking, editing, deleting, adding, etc. I need to get it stored on the computer which I didn't last time. I lost the first six months in 2009 when I accidently hit the wrong key and didn't have it backed up. (everything was in Danish -it had been in Denmark)
I've already started retyping and I'm enjoying it. There are quite a few other things I've thought about to be grateful for so I will be adding them and deleting some of the more controversial entries.
Pete
One of my New Year's resolution was to rewrite the Gratitude Journal I wrote in 2009.
So I'm going to spend my time retyping and in the process I will be tweaking, editing, deleting, adding, etc. I need to get it stored on the computer which I didn't last time. I lost the first six months in 2009 when I accidently hit the wrong key and didn't have it backed up. (everything was in Danish -it had been in Denmark)
I've already started retyping and I'm enjoying it. There are quite a few other things I've thought about to be grateful for so I will be adding them and deleting some of the more controversial entries.
Pete
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Pete' BLOG: Day 26,688. Tampa - here we come.
Today is Saturday, December 28, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 45 minutes of walking outside of Walmart = 2.5 miles for a December total of 54 miles. My weight was 166.4 pounds.
QUOTE from Pete Bungum "A Hawkeye victory in the Outback Bowl would make for a happy plane ride home."
My THOUGHT today is on Tampa and the Outback Bowl - the Hawkeyes versus LSU.
John and Lorna are coming tonight and we're flying out of Cedar Rapids at 7 AM tomorrow morning. We'll spend 4 nights at the Embassy Suites - the game is at noon (Iowa time) on January 1 at Raymond James Stadium - the home of the NFL Tampa Bay Bucs. We got a call yesterday from the travel agency and they said we could have "CLUB SEATS" for more money. We took the offer. I've never sat in Club Seats before for a football game. It will mean free food and drink.
We are so excited to get out of the cold and ice and snow. We have our swim suits packed plus walking shorts. The game time temp is supposed to be 74 degrees.
Go Hawks
QUOTE from Pete Bungum "A Hawkeye victory in the Outback Bowl would make for a happy plane ride home."
My THOUGHT today is on Tampa and the Outback Bowl - the Hawkeyes versus LSU.
John and Lorna are coming tonight and we're flying out of Cedar Rapids at 7 AM tomorrow morning. We'll spend 4 nights at the Embassy Suites - the game is at noon (Iowa time) on January 1 at Raymond James Stadium - the home of the NFL Tampa Bay Bucs. We got a call yesterday from the travel agency and they said we could have "CLUB SEATS" for more money. We took the offer. I've never sat in Club Seats before for a football game. It will mean free food and drink.
We are so excited to get out of the cold and ice and snow. We have our swim suits packed plus walking shorts. The game time temp is supposed to be 74 degrees.
Go Hawks
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Pete's BLOG: Day 26,686. Some thoughts on the Tea Party and Obamacare
Today is Thursday, December 26, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 45 minutes walking in side Walmart = 2.5 miles for a December total of 49.0 miles. My weight was 167.6 pounds.
My THOUGHT today is on the Tea Party and Obamacare. Your coworker is complaining to anyone in earshot that his healthcare-care premiums went up because of Obamacare. Which of the following would you do?
a.____Remind him that health-care companies set rates, not the government.
b. ___ Point out that his rates might me lower if he weighed less than 400 and didn't break into a sweat just from breathing.
c.____Advise him he's three weeks behind on his job quota and he's going to be glad he'll have coverage when he's fired.
d. ____Give him a chance to experience the health-care system firsthand when you hit him in the face with a stapler.
My THOUGHT today is on the Tea Party and Obamacare. Your coworker is complaining to anyone in earshot that his healthcare-care premiums went up because of Obamacare. Which of the following would you do?
a.____Remind him that health-care companies set rates, not the government.
b. ___ Point out that his rates might me lower if he weighed less than 400 and didn't break into a sweat just from breathing.
c.____Advise him he's three weeks behind on his job quota and he's going to be glad he'll have coverage when he's fired.
d. ____Give him a chance to experience the health-care system firsthand when you hit him in the face with a stapler.
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